Specific IgG avidity in acute and chronic human fascioliasis.

The detection of IgG avidity in sera is potentially useful in the diagnosis of acute and chronic infection. We studied IgG avidity in 31 patients with fascioliasis, with the aim of evaluating the clinical application of this test to confirm the diagnosis of incubating cases and to distinguish between acute and chronic cases. Of the 31 cases, 13 were incubating and had a mean avidity index of 57.28 +/- 5.79%. The 18 chronic cases had an avidity index of 68.80 +/- 8.92%. The difference was highly significant. We conclude that IgG avidity is a reliable means of identifying the stage of fascioliasis and suggest a cut-off point of 59.90% to distinguish between acute and chronic infection.